Carlos Santana & Alice Coltrane
Illuminations

Premise: this is my first review and I welcome any feedback on it.

Album: Illuminations

Artists: Carlos Santana & Alice Coltrane

Release: September 1974

Duration: 35.40 

Album type: Studio

Genre: Jazz Fusion

Label: Columbia

Producers: Turya Alice Coltrane, Devadip Carlos Santana, Tom Coster  

By now Santana's "Woodstockian" style has faded for three years with the album Santana III, and the Californian band embarked in 1972 on the Jazz Fusion style with the album Caravanserai. This album features the participation of important jazz musicians of the time, such as Jules Broussard, Jack DeJohnette, and Dave Holland, and you can hear instruments like the flute, saxophone, and double bass. Additionally, there's the harp masterfully played by Alice Coltrane (for those who don’t know, she is the widow of the saxophonist John Coltrane) accompanied by a string orchestra that adds a very serene atmosphere to the music. Carlos Santana doesn't deliver his best (technically) but uses long and simple notes that convey unparalleled emotions, thanks mainly to the very soft atmosphere this album offers. The album is entirely instrumental and offers long electric guitar solos, saxophone solos, and keyboard solos.

The album has six tracks and lasts 35.40 min. Considering the LP, the album begins with "Guru Sri Chinmoy Aphorism", which is the aphorism of Carlos Santana and Alice Coltrane's Guru and lasts 1.11 min; the second song is "Angel Of Air", which was awarded, with its strings, by the Cinematic Orchestra and begins with a beautiful flute solo played by Guru Sri Chinmoy, gradually replaced by other instruments like Carlos Santana's guitar, which plays a masterful solo. The third track is "Angel Of Water", which features an initial guitar solo with blues characteristics and a saxophone solo towards the end of the piece. The entire track is always accompanied by a pleasant violin melody. Together the two tracks last 9.55 min.

The fourth track is "Bliss: The Eternal Now", which is a continuous solo by Carlos softly playing his guitar, allowing the violins to be more prominent, in turn accompanied by Alice Coltrane's harp; this track lasts 5.33 min. The fifth track is "Angel Of Sunlight", where the percussion finally accompanies the piece, which lasts 14.43 min. The piece is also accompanied by the bass which gives its best; furthermore, there is also an outstanding Carlos Santana who, unlike the rest of the album, plays fast notes and also leaves space for the saxophonists who make long riffs. The last track of this magnificent album, which gives it its name, lasts 4.18 min and leaves plenty of room for Alice Coltrane who plays the harp magnificently. 

The album cover represents the Angel of the Sun, the Angel of the Air, and the Angel of Water, each performing their duties in their territory (the Angel of the Sun in a territory similar to the Arizona desert; the Angel of the Air in a lush territory and the Angel of Water collecting water from a lake). Among the wings of the Angel of Water is the album's title, and below it, the artists' names.